4 Strategies for Sticking to Your Business Plan

If you have trouble holding yourself accountable for reaching the goals you’ve set, try these methods for getting back on track.

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Let’s be honest for a second: How many of you actually follow your business plan throughout the entire year? I’m willing to bet that almost none of you do, which is understandable because that’s just not how most of us operate. However, that doesn’t diminish the power of having a good business plan. You just need to make sure it works for the way you function. Here are four ways to ensure that your business plan works for you in the coming year so you can get the most out of 2018.

1. Check your ambition. Log into your MLS and search for homes sold in the past year. How many of those transactions were you a part of? The answer should motivate you to be more ambitious and raise your goals and expectations for the next year.

2. Know your numbers. A good business plan doesn’t just lay out what you need to do for the next year; it shows you what you need to do today. You should know exactly how many appointments you went on in 2017 how many of those appointments turned into transactions. This tells you, based on your closing ratios, how many appointments you need each day to reach your goals in 2018.

Think of it like this: If your closing ratio on appointments is 50 percent, then you need to go on 100 appointments in the next year to do 50 transactions (figuring that you will work 50 out of 52 weeks). That breaks down to only two appointments a week—a goal you could easily achieve.

You’ve got to get clear on what constitutes a winning day for you. Being busy doesn’t mean you’re being productive. When you break it down and know the exact number of appointments you need to reach your goals, you’ll have the clarity to focus your efforts toward your desired outcome.

3. Make time blocking nonnegotiable. Create alignment between what you say you want and what you do to get what you want every, or you will never succeed. For example, don’t say you want to run a marathon and then fail to train daily because you’re too busy. Likewise, you can’t say you want a successful real estate business and not make time for things such as follow-ups, vision planning, practicing your dialogues, and prospecting. If you don’t time-block for key revenue-generating tasks and make that time nonnegotiable, you’ll end up spending most of your day putting out fires. You can check out my video on time blocking for more tips.

4. Hold yourself accountable. Most everyone says they are willing to do the work, but they’re less inclined to keep track of their progress and realign if they veer off course. Accountability is where most of us fail because we always start with good intentions. But have you ever had a disconnect between what you intended to do and what you actually did? Of course you have. That’s why it’s important to either hire a coach or get an accountability partner from within your office to help you stay focused on your business plan and goals.

This year should be the year you not only plan but also take action. You need a business plan, but it has to be executed daily for it to matter. Are you ready to make this your year? Do me a favor and go to ConnectWithJared.com, and send me a message about what you’re doing differently this year to ensure that 2018 will be like no other year you’ve had. I look forward to hearing from you!

Jared James is a national speaker and trainer in the real estate industry who has tens of thousands of followers on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Youtube. Subscribe to get his free sales tips and videos at www.jaredjamestoday.com. To connect with Jared, go to www.connectwithjared.com.